Retired S-rank father becomes a teacher

A few minutes before Victoria’s bloodshed. Silas was sitting with the women in the buffet area, listening to them chat as he picked up a grape with his fork.

The juicy fruit exploded in his mouth as he bit into it, the taste was okay. The difference between three dollar grape and the hundred dollar one was almost non-existent. Yet something made this moment more enjoyable.

A decrease in tension.

He peeked in on Anna, Julia, John, Lisa and their family in the pool outside. All of his family was here which meant the first part of his defense protocol was complete. No keeping an eye on Asia, on the Americas, on Oceania, the Moon or Mars; everyone was gathered in Europe.

Kathy laughed loudly, drawing his attention back to her. His little rebel was all red in her cheeks, her violet eyes sparkling as she spoke with Evelyn. A superfan of hers apparently. That was funny to him, his daughter looking like a lovestruck teen as she hung on every word of her idol.

To him it was the second part of his defense. The only S-rank within Spain, Ibiza and in his direct reach. Evelyn was not a threat. So another layer of comfort washed over him.

But he couldn’t ignore the way Victoria had walked to the restroom. So he watched her through space, his eyes following her even as his body sat there sipping orange juice and the women chatted next to him.

The third layer was the A-ranks around them. One was next to them eating. Not a threat either. So he left her be, his attention on the others in the hotel. Everyone accounted for in his reach.

“Evelyn could you u-um show me your S-rank water magic?” Kathy asked with an awkward stutter, her fingers fidgeting.

His heart melted a little seeing her like that. His daughter was the cutest thing to him: the way her eyes got bigger, the faint blush and the small scratching of her nose.

“Right now?” Evelyn turned to Silas.

From one S-rank to another, she knew the way mana fluctuated when using S-rank magic. It would send a ripple of mana through the building, essentially disorienting other S-ranks. It was like static on the radio.

But his smile was one that said he didn’t care and Kathy rolled her eyes slightly at that. She wanted to see magic. So he would indulge his precious daughter.

“Sure,” Evelyn shrugged and stood up, extending her hand out. Kathy looked at her with stars in her eyes. Water flowed from Evelyn’s hand and in the air, forming the shape of a bird.

“Is this A-rank? It feels different than dad’s magic,” Kathy said, mesmerized by the flowing water.

Evelyn looked at the bird as it moved its wings, a glint of pride in her eyes. “Yeah, it’s hard to use S-rank in this kind of place. I’d need to be more careful otherwise it’ll make this area dangerous.” The water disappeared and Kathy pouted.

Suddenly Kathy lit up and she looked at her father, “Dad can you use your magic against Evelyn’s? I want to see what S-rank fights look like. Like a mini one.” Her eyes were full of curiosity.

Silas put down his juice. The static would get bigger if he did it. So he checked in on Victoria, this time with full concentration as a rift opened and she noticed immediately. Seeing her start to undress made him chuckle. She was fine, if not a bit excited.

His violet eyes moved back to Kathy.

“Hmm if you call me papa like Vic does, I’ll indulge you. Deal?” He asked her with a grin.

Kathy groaned and crossed her arms. Her cheeks getting red again. She mumbled something about him being a dork, the teasing old man and then looked up at him.

“Papa please?” She gave him a fake pleading look and he laughed, standing up and taking off his jacket.

In front of him, Evelyn had her mana gathered and was creating a sphere of water between her hands. A smile on her face.

“You seem a bit too excited Evelyn,” Silas said, his own mana leaking from his fingers.

She laughed, the sound was nice to his ears. “It’s been a while. I’m curious to see how big the gap is now that you’re a parent. I’ll try to take it easy on you.”

He chuckled and gathered his own ball of space mana. S-rank mana was dense, incredibly so compared to A-rank and below; it created an oppressive atmosphere around them. The air shimmered as the mana touched it.

Crowds gathered around them, people from different ranks, everyone wanted to watch a spectacle like this. Some random woman went to the restroom and he scanned her.

No mana.

Not a threat to his princess.

The ball of mana was ready and the two S-rankers nodded to each other.

Their spells collided, like two hands pushing on the other, creating an equilibrium. It was a tie.

That wasn’t right.

Did Evelyn’s mana get denser too or did he just not use as much?

“Silas are you holding back?” Evelyn asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Dad don’t be a wimp,” Kathy yelled from her chair.

A dramatic exhale left his lips. He knew he was in a hotel surrounded by people but a little crack on the walls or floor wasn’t the end of the world. So the static grew bigger, for a moment he saw a blurry vision of Victoria and the woman from earlier in his head before it all focused on the water sphere he was pushing.

Evelyn was the first to slip and she was pushed back with a smile.

“Unfair. Space is really broken,” she commented with a frown.

Kathy huffed. “That was short.”

Silas dispersed his ball of mana, letting both of their S-rank mana linger in the air like hazy smoke.

“Did you enjoy it Kathy?” he asked, looking at his twin daughter with an expectant expression.

A small smile crept on her lips. She did. But she wouldn’t admit it, too proud for that, but her eyes showed her admiration for him.

Heat radiated through his chest. His daughter admiring him was all the validation he needed in life. It made his world right.

The next second his heart stopped. A crowd gathered next to the restroom. He forced his mana through the smoke and into the crack of the door. What he saw, froze his blood.

Victoria stood there covered in blood with two dead bodies, crying, whispering his name over and over again like she was trapped in a nightmare.

He instantly teleported to the door. Where was the threat? Who does he kill? His system, that kept them safe for eighteen years without fail, didn’t give him a solution.

It was only Victoria’s mana signature. His system had no category for this.

“Leave.” His voice was cold, not looking at the other people there, he opened the door and entered. All thoughts of killing threats or even rationality went out of his head.

His daughter was crying. So he went to her, carresed her face, checked her for injuries.

“Papa?” she said like a child in pain.

“Are you okay princess?”

That question was both to her and him: she was unharmed physically, he could feel that. But mentally? Emotionally he could never truly know. Not unless he crawled into her mind.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and she cried against him.

“No... Please... I’m sorry. I don’t want you to hate me.” Her tears fell onto him, wetting his shirt and her breathing was unstable.

Her words broke something in him. Hate her? He could never. Yet she still had a lingering fear that he would abandon her, that he would stop loving her and that was a failure on his part.

“Hate you? I could never hate my sweet, precious girl.” He murmured into her ear, his hand stroking her back. Victoria looked so small right now, she always did but it was more apparent to him than ever.

“I killed them...I killed them papa.”

The red of her victim’s blood was still under her fingernails. She needed to be cleaned, washed and held until she forgot this moment. Silas grabbed her hand and teleported them home.

The bathroom was steamy and warm, filled with the scent of lavender as the water dripped on the floor.

Sitting with her in his lap, she sobbed against him, her head in the crook of his neck, and her arms around him tightly. The thought of removing his clothes never even crossed his mind as his soaked shirt clung to his body and he held her in the bath, rubbing circles on her back, kissing her forehead.

“Am I still your princess?” Her broken voice was quiet.

“Forever my princess.”

There was never any doubt in his words. She was his princess.

Victoria closed her eyes, finally succumbing to exhaustion. Her face looked peaceful now. No tears, no fear. A sigh left her lips as she fell asleep.

Silas just stayed there, watching her sleep as the water slowly cooled. His system failed today. No. It didn’t fail—it just wasn't designed to stop his daughters.

“How do I protect her from herself?” he whispered to no one.